


Nightmares

by toxicdotaep (RacheTanz)



Category: John Dies at the End - David Wong
Genre: Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Other, Sharing a Bed, by gays for gays, mostly concerns john and dave but id never forget abt amy, probably a lil out of character but Hey i tried, set sometime in a nebulous near-future where they live together, so here you go, the kind of polyamory where they are All in love, this just kinda Possessed me at like 3am and wouldnt leave me alone til i wrote it, vague hints at past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24317437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RacheTanz/pseuds/toxicdotaep
Summary: John has bad nights, too.
Relationships: John Cheese/Amy Sullivan/David Wong
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Nightmares

Dave wasn’t sure what woke him up at first, but he didn’t have to wonder for long. His eyes swept over the room, half expecting to see a shadow-person standing at the foot of their bed, but all he saw was Amy snuggled into his side, the usual mess of the room around him, and John. Or, well, John’s hair, smushed against Dave’s face, as John’s head was right next to his, forehead at around his ear level.

John was, as per usual, lying halfway on top of Dave, with one arm tucked under him, the other slung across his torso, hand resting on Dave’s shoulder. But something wasn’t quite right. John was too tense, his grip tightening as he tried to pull Dave closer. He tended to grab onto things when he slept, and it was usually cute or funny—for a while now, Dave and Amy had made a game out of slipping bizarre items into John’s arms while he was asleep and watching him cuddle the shit out of them—but this evening Dave could tell it wasn’t going to be very cute. John mumbled something and Dave realized he was sweating, and twitching every now and then. He could feel John’s brow furrow against his cheek as his face scrunched up.

A nightmare. John was having a nightmare.

 _Duh, Dave._

He wasn’t sure what to do from there. Typically, when he was awake, giving John a hug would help him feel better, if only for the sentiment of the gesture (Dave was pretty awkward), but Dave wasn’t sure if that would just make him feel trapped. That was the last thing he wanted.

Fortunately he didn’t have to sit and deliberate for too long because John suddenly snapped awake with a sharp inhale, and lay frozen for a moment before sighing and loosening his grip. Dave could feel his hand shake. He didn’t want to startle John but he didn’t want to pretend he was asleep, because he _definitely_ didn’t want to leave John all alone with whatever just happened. 

“Uh. Hey, dude.” Dave whispered.

“Hey.” John answered wearily. His voice was a little unsteady. “Sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“No,” Dave wasn’t actually sure if he had or not, but he wouldn’t tell John if he had, anyways. “You okay?”

John took a deep, wobbling breath, and when he spoke again his voice was much stronger. “Yeah... yeah, I’ll be fine.” 

Dave noted how he didn’t say he was _currently_ fine, just that he _would_ be, but he didn’t press the issue, just stayed quiet. He wished he could see John’s face, but it’d be impossible without dislodging both his partners, which he didn’t want to do. 

He felt John shift. “It’s like… it’s right _there_ , man,” John pinched his brow right between his eyes, mumbling, “right _fuckin’_ there.” 

“I know.” Dave gingerly reached over, not sure if John actually wanted to be touched, and gently rubbed his shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. 

John sighed, relaxing in an almost defeated way. “Yeah. You do.” 

A silence settled, punctuated only by Amy snoring. Dave traced light circles on John’s shoulder, and John just quietly lay there, nose pressed into Dave’s cheek. Dave didn’t even feel himself falling asleep again, until he woke up again sometime later to a noticeable lack of John. He blinked and glanced around, puzzled, then spotted John sitting at the foot of the bed. Some needy part of him wanted to reach out and grumble about the lack of comforting weight and heat, but the majority of him knew, at least a little bit, what was going on. He turned to look at Amy, still snoring peacefully beside him, and he had to make a decision. 

He started to gently disentangle himself from her, doing the utmost to make sure he wouldn’t wake her up, so focused on it he didn’t notice John was watching him until he heard a muffled snicker and glanced over to see their boyfriend covering his mouth to keep from laughing too loud. Once Dave was finally freed (with Amy still asleep to boot! Dave felt pretty accomplished for that), he shuffled to the foot of the bed to join John. 

“Man, if any moment deserved the Mission Impossible theme…” John whispered.

Dave chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I know.” He settled in beside John, and they fell silent again. 

Dave had been on the opposite end of this script often enough to know what to do. He wasn’t accustomed to flipping it around, but he could, because he needed to. It was the least he could do. “You okay?” 

John glanced over, but didn’t answer. 

Dave shifted a little to face him more, and John looked over at him, meeting his eyes. “You wanna talk about it?” 

“...Nah. It’s okay, man. I just…” John waved a hand. “Too much adrenaline to sleep. I’m fine.” 

Dave nodded. He understood. All too well, really. “I’m here.”

“I know.”

Dave cautiously draped an arm over John’s shoulders, fairly sure John would shrug it off (and he wouldn’t be upset if John did), but instead John leaned into it. Dave let the full weight of his arm rest on John’s shoulders, looping his other arm over to hold John. He could feel, now, that John was slightly shivering, tense with a nervous energy, but he didn’t say anything. Neither of them did. If John didn’t want to talk about it, Dave wouldn’t press him, but he wasn’t as good at soothing platitudes as John was, so he kept his mouth shut out of fear of saying the wrong thing. John, of course, didn’t mind. He never expected Dave to play therapist for him, mostly because they both knew that would end horribly, and he was more than content to just rest. (To be honest, he hadn’t entirely expected Dave to hug him, even though Dave was getting better about the whole physical-affection thing.) A side-hug was good enough for John. He knew the kindness behind it. 

He relaxed slowly. _Very_ slowly. But eventually, he stilled, his head resting on Dave’s shoulder, finally feeling calmer. Not _calm_ , but close enough that he could sleep, if he tried. Dave being there helped. When he was on his own, on nights like these, he just wouldn’t sleep again, every dark corner of his house a menace in disguise. He’d turn on all the lights and drink the strongest coffee he could make until the sun rose. But with Dave there he felt a lot less vulnerable, both because Dave was probably the one person in the world who had any inkling of the bullshit John had been through, and because whether he’d admit it or not, Dave was pretty damned strong. Not because he was technically a monster clone of himself, but because he just was kinda _built_ that way, even before. John didn’t exactly _need_ to be protected by Dave or anything (nor would Dave appreciate feeling like he had to, in any way), but having the guy around did help with the fear a little. (Amy too, actually, but she was asleep, so that was a moot point.)

Besides, he really did like Dave’s hugs, awkward though they were. 

“I’m alright.” He finally said.

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He wanted to lift his head, but at the same time, he was pretty comfortable. Maybe Dave would just let him sleep there…

“You sure?” 

John hesitated. “…Mostly.” 

“Wanna watch T.V. or somethin’?” Dave was nothing if not a fount of ideas for things to do instead of sleeping, but now that the adrenaline had faded, John was feeling pretty drained.

“Nah.” He finally lifted his head. “Think I’m okay to go back to sleep.” 

Dave reluctantly let go of him. “Alright.” They both crawled back up the bed as carefully as possible, trying their best not to wake Amy. Dave settled in first, of course, and then John gingerly draped himself over Dave, this time a bit closer to Amy, almost between the two. Dave didn’t say anything about it, so John figured it was fine; once he settled in, careful not to elbow either of them, he dug one hand under Dave, as was customary, and draped the other over his shoulder. Usually at this point, Dave would toss just one arm over him, the other tucked around Amy, but tonight he gently looped both arms over John. “This good?” 

John considered it for a moment, and decided it felt more safe than restricting. And he knew the moment it didn’t feel safe anymore, Dave would let go, no questions asked, because he understood things like that. “Yeah.” 

“Okay. G’night, John.” 

“Night, Dave. Love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

* * *

Amy woke up feeling a little chilly. When she opened her eyes, she could (somewhat) see why. Dave was still nestled right beside her, but he had both his arms wrapped around John, holding him close. John was mostly on top of Dave, as per usual, but he was also partially on top of her (mainly, his left leg was stuck among both of hers). Something must have happened; it wasn’t like John to hog all the Dave cuddles.

She got up carefully, so as to not wake them, then leaned over, ruffling her hand through John’s hair and kissing Dave on the forehead. She needed to go to work and, more importantly, to take her meds, because her back was already aching. She could ask what happened later, if she remembered—more to check up on them than to complain. Amy wasn’t stupid; she knew that, despite all of his cheer and his eternal willingness to drag Dave from the edge of the abyss, John had bad nights sometimes, too. Maybe she and Dave could do something nice for him later today… 

She left a little note on the nightstand reminding them she loved them, and that they were out of eggs, so one of the two should go fetch some if they wanted pancakes anytime soon.


End file.
